As I turned my computer on recently, I was greeted by that omnipresent Microsoft logo. Half a minute later I was still staring at it. Nothing else happened and I realized that was all I was going to see.

The Greater Hall Chamber of Commerce will hold a small-business seminar from 8-9 a.m. Tuesday at the chamber. Madeline Wirt, an attorney with Whelchel, Dunlap, Jarrard and Walker in Gainesville, will present "Immigration Law." The program will focus on the new I-9 form required for all employees and the status of the Social Security no-match regulation.

The Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co., which operates its largest chewing gum factory in Flowery Branch, has announced it will team up with pop sensation Chris Brown, rising country star and reality show champion Julianne Hough and hip-hop artist Ne-Yo to re-record three of the Wrigley's brands well-known jingles: the unforgettable Doublemint "Double Your Pleasure" (1960); the famous Juicy Fruit "Taste is Gonna Move Ya" (1983); and the Big Red "Kiss a Little Longer" (1979).

A new biosecure necropsy building opened last week at the Georgia Poultry Laboratory in Oakwood. The $100,000 facility allows post-mortem examination of chickens without the possibility of introducing disease into the main laboratory building.

Hamilton State Bancshares, a Braselton-based bank holding company, announced Monday that it will acquire Jefferson State Bank of Cumming.

The acquisition has been approved by both bank boards and now requires regulatory approval and the approval of Jefferson State Bank shareholders. The acquisition is expected to be finalized in the fourth quarter of 2008.

Invasive fire ants plague most of the Southeast, rooting out native species and delivering blistering bites to whatever gets in their way. Amazingly, they all likely came from fewer than a dozen stowaways that landed in Mobile, Ala., in the mid-1930s, says a University of Georgia researcher.